Palestinian gunmen shot in Jenin

Jenin has often been targetted by raids

Israeli troops have shot dead five Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Jenin during an Israeli raid.

Israeli military sources said the troops engaged in a gun fight after being fired upon by the men in a car.

Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces dressed as locals drove into Jenin and targeted a car carrying the five al-Aqsa Brigades militants.

The incident came hours after reports that the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers would meet next week.

Officials on both sides said the two leaders had agreed to the meeting - their first since they came to office - but no date had yet been set.

An unnamed Palestinian official was quoted as saying the summit is expected to take place on 16 March.

'Massacre'

Israeli military sources said the troops entered Jenin to carry out an arrest.

They said the troops had been acting on information that the five were on their way to carry out an attack at the Jewish settlement of Qadim, just outside Jenin.

A brief gun fight followed and the men were killed, the sources said.

But Palestinian witnesses said the Israeli undercover forces deliberately targeted the members of the al-Aqsa Brigades - an armed faction associated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

"This is one of the massacres committed day and night by the Israelis," Mr Arafat told reporters at his Ramallah headquarters.

Summit plans

Several attempts to arrange talks between Mr Qurei and Mr Sharon have been made over the past few months, so far without result.

Qurei said a meeting must stand a chance of success

On Tuesday, Mr Qurei told the BBC a meeting would only happen if there was a strong chance it would produce results.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper said a date for the meeting had been tentatively set for next Tuesday, but discussions on finalising details were continuing.

Mr Qurei became prime minister in October 2003, replacing Mahmoud Abbas who resigned after a brief power struggle with Mr Arafat.

Egypt role

News of the planned summit emerged amid a flurry of diplomatic activity triggered by Israel's proposed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

After talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Mr Arafat said the Palestinian Authority was ready to assume control of the Gaza Strip at "every level".

But Mr Arafat insisted an Israeli withdrawal should only happen within the framework of the Middle East peace plan, known as the roadmap.

Mr Suleiman is already reported to have met Mr Sharon and the Israeli foreign intelligence chief, Meir Dagan, earlier this week.

On Thursday, Israel's Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, is due to visit Egypt for a summit with President Hosni Mubarak.

A date for the proposed pullout has yet to be announced and the Egyptians are especially wary of getting dragged in to help contain the aftermath, the BBC's Wyre Davies in Ramallah says.

Palestinian militants have been known to smuggle weapons from Egypt, which borders the Gaza Strip.

Israeli tanks and bulldozers on Wednesday entered the Rafah refugee camp on the Egypt-Gaza border, in what the army said was a mission to uncover tunnels used for weapons smuggling.

Hamas statement

On Wednesday, the militant Palestinian group, Hamas, said it was making contingency plans to run the Gaza Strip after the Israeli withdrawal.

Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin said his organisation would co-ordinate its plans with other Palestinian factions.

But a Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip is precisely the kind of development that neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority want to see, the BBC's Arab affairs analyst, Magdi Abdelhadi, says.

Washington and neighbouring Arab states are also wary of the risk, he adds.